The disposable facility don't clean it, just replace it.

Larry Strawser used to dread "move-out" day at his assisted living facility.

Such days always made any "accidents" on the carpet immediately apparent, as residents removed their belongings. That almost always meant a day spent tearing out the entire carpet and replacing it anew, at the cost of roughly $400 per room or $800 per apartment.

These days, Strawser, director of facilities at Bethany Village Retirement Center in Mechanicsburg, Pa., worries little about the state of the carpet. Carpet problems cost him virtually nothing to fix, and the repair goes in almost invisibly.

Strawser's secret is carpet tiles--a.k.a. modular carpet--which can be popped in and out like Lego blocks in a matter of minutes. "I don't have to call in a carpet installer anymore," he said. "When my housekeeper comes across a stain she can't clean, she just lifts up the tile and puts in a new one."

Welcome to the world of disposable carpet, where damaged sections are removed, one square at a time. A stark contrast to its elder cousin Broadloom--the standard in office and industrial applications for nearly five decades--modular carpet is thicker and more expensive but softer and more durable in the long run, according to manufacturers.

Disposable carpet is one of several items hitting the ground (see "Once is Enough") Once considered basic everlasting goods, throw-away or semi-disposable versions of these items are on the way to a nursing home, assisted living or retirement center near you.

Modular carpet is also steering away from local landfills, where for a couple decades most of the non-biodegradable remnants--as well as the standard carpet it replaced--had an open reservation. The newer, more environmentally friendly product follows a concept of "biomimicry," the philosophy that systems and products should be designed the way nature would create them.

Concerns exist about pollution created during the manufacture of carpets, especially the presence of certain chemicals in the backing materials, which reportedly can result in "off-gassing" (particularly of formaldehyde into room air) and react with old adhesives and under-layments. Manufacturers of newer carpet tiles claim to have minimized such problems. CLTC did not conduct scientific analysis for this article.

Although modular carpet has existed since the 1980s, few long term care facilities chanced the concept of piecemeal replacement, for fear that what they saw after a replacement wouldn't match what they got the first time around, said Tom McGovern, manager of flooring at B.T. Mancini Co. in Milpitas, Calif.

McGovern, whose company specializes in carpet installation, noted that 80 percent of the wear in a carpet occurs on 20 percent of the space. "(In those conditions) any new carpet that goes down stands out like a sore thumb," he said. "The new stuff has never been walked on, hasn't been impacted by the environment. It sticks out like the piece of new carpet it is."

But advances in backing material, as well as better blending after installation, helped turn the tiled carpet from square to barely there, according to Phil Malone, manager at Carpet Solutions Inc., a carpet installer in Cape Coral, Fla.

About a year after having carpet tiles installed in the well-traveled entryway at her long term care facility, Nicole Wade, administrator at Paoli Health and Living in Paoli, Ind., invited doubtful members of the corporate office to view the product. "They were convinced that when we put in a clean one, you would be able to tell," Wade said. "So we tested it. I had the housekeeper change three squares. None of us could find them."

There's the therapeutic aspect as well, Malone added. "Modular tile has a cushion and a polyurethane backing that is better for your knees," he said. "Anyone who walks a lot--such as a nursing home worker--can appreciate that."

Facility owners might not appreciate the $12 to $15 more per yard on average they will spend buying modular compared to Broadloom, Malone noted. But the carpet is a faster initial install due to its smaller size.

ONCE IS ENOUGH

Carpet isn't the only thing facilities are using on a short-term basis these days. While some disposable products have been in use for years--adult briefs and examination room caps, masks, aprons and gloves are standards --other products have emerged that are designed to reduce the amount of time spent collecting, washing and repacking items for a second, third or tenth use. The beauty of these items is they're environmentally friendly as well.

* Disposable cleaning cloths. These multi-purpose, dry items--roughly 10" by 13" in size--are designed to cover the same cleaning ground (so to speak) as their washable cloth cousins. At about $50 per bag of 50, manufacturers note that they are as durable as cloth but prevent a facility from having to cart bags of dirty washcloths to the laundry, saving on energy costs and water use. And, being made of 100 percent paper, they won't cause havoc in the local landfill.

* Throwaway bedsheets. How often have you heard nurses or nursing assistants complain about having to deal with some rather ... unpleasant messes to clean up in residents' beds? They now have a way around that situation with the use of non-woven disposable sheets, a paper product that can be used one or two times and then thrown away. "It's very much like a fortified paper towel," said Peter Knorre, president of EcoScience Products in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., a distributor. "But its tear resistance is very high." Available as a mattress cover, bed sheet or pillow case, the product is smooth, unlike synthetic disposables on the market used by ambulance and emergency room personnel. "It's not like sandpaper when you sleep on it," he said.

* Biodegradable dishes. Disposable dishware isn't new--facilities have used plastic and Styrofoam storage dishes and paper plates for years. But, edible dishware? In Poland it's a big hit, according to the Dutch newspaper "De Telegraaf." The company Biotrem produces a line of plates, cups and bowls made entirely of wheat bran that is processed and covered with vegetable wax. Aside from being somewhat reusable--bowls and cups can tolerate several hand washings before tossing is necessary. The items are also 100 percent recyclable, particularly as a natural soil fertilizer, the company noted on its Web site.